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Topic: upside down garden (Read 2338 times)

I have read about doing it in Mother Earth news and there are alot of sites about it. It looks like it is pretty sucessful so I am going to try it with my tomatos and cucumbers this year. My main reasoning is that I am tired of weeding and I don't want to stake and cage tomatos anymore. I plan to grow these out the bottom of buckets with all my salad stuff in the tops, then put all the sqash and pumkins on the ground below everything else. Has anybody tried it before?

My brother grows his tomatoes this way and it works well. He buys them at walmart or home depot, i forhet which. My only complaints are the need for daily watering, even w/ water chrystals. My other complaint is unique to my location. I live in an are where tomatoes are amazingly good tasting. The soil is the diference. If you buy these hanging gardens, they come w/ commercially provided soil . This soil doesn't make the same great tasting tomatoes I grew up w/ is all. They look great, even taste good, but not as god as filed grown tomatoes. I have no experience w/ other veggies. Keep us posted w/ results as I'm always looking for easier gardening.

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"The more complex the Mind, the Greater the need for the simplicity of Play".

When I travel out to western US to meet friends in summer, they always insist I bring tomatoes, corn and peaches from jersey . Truly some of the best tasting varieties of jersey produce.I apck it in a cooler and just check them w/ ice packs. Add some steaks and cocktails, instant party!

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"The more complex the Mind, the Greater the need for the simplicity of Play".

Yes, I have done it. It was a sort of large scale experiment. I think the greatest benefit was seen with cherry tomatoes. They were not heavy enough to break their own branches, which was the biggest problem I saw with bigger(slicer) type toms. The branches would grow and then sort of twist and break from the weight of the fruit. Tomato plants in a 5gal bucket will need lots of water. I would recommend setting up a few drip emitters w/timer, otherwise you'll be getting the hose daily and reaching up with a watering wand. The bucket bottoms will need to be at least high enough that they will clear your head in order to prevent accidents or bending over to harvest fruit. Well, at least those are my experiences.

I water off of rain barrels under my down spouts so I don't have to worry about the water bill. I have a little 12v pump on my lawn tractor and just pull it around to the barrel I want to pump from. I am growing Roma, and those mid-size yellow tomatos. I don't have any beef steak or anything real big like that. I guess the question is would you do it again or would you plant and stake them if done over? Any tips? What did you hang yours from? I am going to run aircraft cable between some heavy fence posts and use cable clamps to attach the handle to the cable. I have 50 to hang.

I still say cherry toms will do best. Romas will work if you pick them mature but not "red ripe". Once they get ripe they form a strong abcision layer and tend to shatter in windy conditions. I used 5gal buckets, hung by the bail off of lags screwed into the headers in some pole buildings. They received full sun, and needed watering at least once per day. Buckets with media or soil, plants, fruits, and water add up to one heavy object. I would have faith in the right aircraft cable, but I think 50 buckets would require fenceposts the size/depth of telephone poles with a few intermediates, otherwise the contraption may fold up mid season. I planted in buckets just as an experiment, I don't think I would do it again. I tried several different tomatoes, eggplant, and cukes. They seemed like appropriate candidates for such a system. See what you think. I've got a plastic mulch layer and water wheel planter, I don't think anything could beat that setup for my needs. Try the buckets for yourself, it's a good experience, just not something I'd do again. I did find one "bucket garden" application that I really like, can't be beat in my opinion... it's called growing carrots. A nice peat media can be used, seed the carrots thick. When they start to crowd, thin them out enjoying the tastiest baby carrots you've ever tasted. Let the remainders grow into the straightest, EASIEST TO PULL carrots you'll ever have. Don't hang carrot buckets, I think the bucket gets too warm. Set them on the ground in stead. I won't even try to grow carrots in our rocky ground anymore- too twisty, forked, and hard to pull. Rocky soil is much better suited to garlic, spuds, and ginseng, stuff you dig rather than pull.